


A Christmas Present

by andipxndy



Series: Life Beyond the War [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Big Three bros, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-18 08:52:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5918086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andipxndy/pseuds/andipxndy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So the guys are alone this Christmas - Piper has gone to visit her dad, and Annabeth is with her family in San Francisco. Percy and Jason are pretty much fully prepared to spend their Christmases alone, maybe even drag Nico along for the ride. But then someone turns up unexpectedly... by crashing into the woods. Sequel(-ish) to 'A Winter Skate'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Christmas Present

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted from Fanfiction.net (username: The Needless Lobsters)  
> Original Post Date: 13/01/2015  
> Edited & Updated: 10/02/2016
> 
> So this is a sequel-ish to the fic A Winter Skate. I hope you enjoy it!

Jason sighed as he stared out of the only window of the Zeus cabin, watching the snowflakes fall lightly. Even though it was still pretty dark out, the light coming from the Greek fire lanterns was enough to illuminate the camp just enough to see the flakes.

It was early in the morning on Christmas day – maybe around three a.m. – and Jason couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was because he had a feeling that he would have a nightmare that night, or maybe it was because, even though it was Christmas, he still wouldn’t be able to celebrate it with everyone he wanted to. Reyna was in California, Piper was with her dad, and Leo… well, he was _dead_. At least, that’s what Hazel and Nico had told him, and Nico had even offered to go and have a look down in the underworld to make sure; Jason had kindly turned down that offer.

So now he was alone, not tired, and actually quite cold (the Zeus cabin really needed to invest in some under-floor heating or something), whilst he was absolutely sure that everyone else was asleep.

Suddenly, something caught Jason’s eye, and he smirked a little.

Well, everyone but Percy Jackson, it seemed. Jason could see the faint glow of his sword – Riptide – as he headed away from his cabin and towards the beach, for what he assumed to be some alone time with the ocean.

 _Someone to talk to_. The blonde quickly grabbed a sweatshirt from his pile of clothes and threw it on, before quickly exiting the cabin and beginning to head in Percy’s direction, following him to wherever he was going.

Within the next five minutes, Jason realised that he had been right – Percy was heading down to the beach to relax, or at least just sit there. Because the son of Poseidon seemed to just be sitting there, staring at the ocean.

The son of Zeus – Jupiter, whatever – approached him and sat beside him in the sand, staring out at the sea along with him for a few moments before deciding to speak up.

“Lonely?”

Percy shrugged, barely even reacting to Jason’s presence, and sighed quietly. “Annabeth’s in San Fran with her family. My mom’s spending Christmas with Paul. So, yeah, I guess I’m pretty lonely.”

Jason recalled Percy mentioning his step-dad, Paul, once or twice, him being one of the few mortals that knew about the camp that was still alive. Or, at least, from what he knew. Apparently, they got on pretty well, but if Percy was leaving them to spend Christmas alone… “Did something happen between you and your parents?”

Percy frowned as he turned to look at Jason. “No… they just deserve to have no monster attacks this season.”

“Percy, we went out last week, and we had no monster attacks.”

“You’re forgetting _empousai_ that cornered us at the cafe we got drinks at.”

“Oh yeah.”

The two fell silent, staring out at the ocean. Whilst Jason was sure that Percy felt completely comfortable doing this, for some reason the blonde felt ever so slightly on edge. Like this wasn’t his zone. Which it wasn’t, to be fair. He wasn’t a son of Poseidon.

It was after a few moments of silence that the two of them heard a set of footsteps approaching them on the sand, coming from behind them. Neither of the males seated in the sand turned until the footsteps stopped. That’s when Jason glanced over his shoulder.

Nico stood there in his black and white skull pyjamas that Hazel had bought him as a present, a pair of fluffy bunny slippers on his feet (those had been Percy’s gift, and regardless of the son of Hades’ protests he’d been forced to wear them – now they were pretty inseparable at night, when no one could see them). He hesitated when he spotted the two demigods, before moving to sit in the sand beside Jason, on the opposite side to Percy.

The three just sat there, staring out to the sea, before the silence was broken.

“So, why are you here?” Percy asked, turning his head to look towards the other two and seemingly addressing no one in particular. “I mean, this isn’t exactly your territory.”

Jason hesitated before he answered. “Piper’s spending Christmas with her dad, and I have no clue where Thalia and the Huntresses are now so… yeah.” He shrugged a little. Percy already knew this, of course, but he needed something to fill the silence. It was kind of awkward with no one talking.

From the look on Percy’s face, though, it was clear that the question hadn’t exactly been aimed at Jason. But he decided to continue with the conversation anyway.

“You miss her that bad, huh?”

“Well, yeah, she’s my girlfriend. You know exactly how that feels.”

Percy just sighed in response to that. Of course he knew. How could he not?

The silence built up again, but this time, the two older males turned to stare at Nico, who was staring out to sea obliviously. When he finally realised they were staring at him, the confused look that appeared on his face morphed into a frown.

“…What?” he asked slowly, looking between them both.

A small grin grew on the son of Poseidon’s face. “Well, I was just thinking…”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “You were thinking…?”

Percy sent a small grin to Jason, and the blonde caught on, grinning widely.

“Well, _we_ were just thinking,” Jason corrected.

The son of Hades frowned. “ _What_ were you thinking?”

“…That you really have no reason to be down here.” Percy leaned back on the sand, his hands folding behind his head. “I mean, Jason and I have girlfriends out of the state.”

“…So…?”

“Well, Solace is just in the Apollo cabin, isn’t he?”

Even in the dim moonlight, it was clear to see that the son of Hades’ cheeks had flushed red, and he glared at the two, who were smirking at him. “Shut up!”

Jason had fallen back, laughing at the scowl on Nico’s face. It was scary, yes, but he couldn’t help finding it hilarious considering the situation. Only Nico would get so bothered about something like that – Jason was pretty sure he was over all the mocking about his and Piper’s relationship.

Percy just grinned at the scowl that the son of Hades gave him, before turning his head to stare up at the stars. “Yeah, well, at least you don’t have to worry about all that relationship stuff,” he pointed out.

“Yet,” Jason corrected, earning another scowl from Nico.

“No, I just have to worry about… all the crushing on him stuff,” Nico replied snarkily.

“You handled it last time.”

“Oh yes, I handled it so well.”

Percy snorted. “Well, from what we hear, it won’t just be crushing on him for much longer.”

Nico frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re planning on asking him out at the New Year’s fireworks next week, right?”

“Percy?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

* * *

Pretty much the rest of that late night/early morning was spent chatting and joking with each other, with the boys recounting various stories – most of them were Percy and Jason telling stories about their respective camps, whilst Nico chipped in his occasional comment about what a ghost said they’d done in a past life. All in all, it was a very amusing night.

They almost whined when the sun rose.

Well, to be honest, Percy actually _did_.

“We were having so much fun, Apollo!” he yelled, a childish scowl on his face. “A couple more hours please!”

“Percy, you can’t do that,” Nico scolded lightly, although Jason was trying to hold back a snigger.

“Why–” Percy stopped himself before finishing that question, suddenly realising what he was saying. “Oh… right. Hahaaa…”

Jason laughed at the son of Poseidon, whilst Nico merely shook his head and smiled at the guy’s occasional stupidity.

“Honestly, Percy.”

Percy pouted a little, before pushing himself to his feet and stretching. “What?” he asked as he turned to head off the beach.

“No wonder Annabeth calls you a ‘Seaweed Brain’.” Jason just grinned at the scowl that Percy sent back to him. “What? It’s true!”

Nico gave a short laugh as he followed Percy’s lead, standing and stretching before making his way in the direction that the son of Poseidon was heading. He looked down at the son of Jupiter (was it still Jupiter since Jason turned Greek? He didn’t know.) “Are you coming?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jason slowly pulled himself to his feet, sighing. He rubbed the back of his neck. “So, what, back to our cabins for a Christmas alone?” he asked the other two as he caught up with them.

“We have a whole camp,” Percy pointed out, as if it was obvious. “We can celebrate Christmas with them, you know.”

“It won’t be the same without the girls.”

“It’ll be fine for Nico. He has Will.”

Nico scowled at the two as they made their way back to the showers and the cabins to freshen up, trying to ignore their laughter. Honestly, this was getting pretty annoying now. They were almost to the Mess Hall now, about halfway through their journey to the cabins, when there was a shout and a crash.

The three boys frowned, sharing a look, before they began to move in the direction of the sound. Whatever they were hearing seemed to be taking them towards the woods, where they usually held their Capture the Flag games.

Jason was the only one of the three who actually stopped before they entered the woods, frowning slightly. “Uh, guys… what if we don’t know what’s in there?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Percy pointed out as he made his way in, completely ignoring the fact that Jason had stopped.

Nico paused by a tree, turning back to look at Jason. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked, giving the other male an expectant look as if to say “if you don’t come, Percy won’t ever let you live it down”.

So Jason decided to follow the two into the trees, his eyes on the lookout.

* * *

Not long after they’d begun to make their way in, Jason realised why he’d been so against the idea in the first place.

They didn’t have weapons.

Okay, correction, Percy had a weapon, but he _slept_ with that freaking pen in his hand so he wasn’t surprised that he had it. That, and Percy didn’t really sleep much anyway (not since… you know), so he had to be on the lookout somehow.

Nico had left his Stygian Iron sword back in his cabin (like a smart, _normal_ demigod), although Jason recalled that he’d mentioned something about considering getting his father to enchant it. Like, make it into a ring or something or enchant it to his skull ring so he could keep it on him at all times (and normal went _out the window_.)

Jason didn’t really care all that much that he didn’t have a weapon. Trees were excellent conductors of electricity (even if the nymphs would hate him afterwards for it), and he didn’t really have any pockets to keep a sword that large in (and he wasn’t exactly going to ask his patron goddess to enchant the thing).

In fact, Jason was just defending his point about not having pockets to keep a weapon in, even if it _had been_ enchanted, when they heard the yelping sound again. This time, there was a loud creaking sound along with it, and some (slightly) angry yelling.

The trio gave each other nervous glances before making their way towards the sound, Percy at the front with Riptide unsheathed and Jason bringing up the rear holding a large branch. Nico walked between the two, his arms out and ready to raise the dead if needed.

And then the noise was right ahead of them, just beyond a set of bushes, and they stopped. Percy turned back to look at the two, putting a finger to his lips as a warning to stay silent, before he suddenly jumped through the bushes and into the small clearing that the voices were coming from.

Jason raised an eyebrow at the male’s dramatics, whilst Nico rolled his eyes, and then waited patiently to see if they should follow.

Of course, they gave in after a few seconds, and followed Percy through, only to find him standing there, staring at something… or rather, _someone_.

The clearing that they’d all assumed was small (because they were used to the layout of the woods by now) had, for some reason, become very large, with a couple of scorched trees laying on the earthy ground (and their nymphs nowhere to be seen). There were even tracks in the soil from where a fairly large object must have fallen and skidded along the ground before coming to a stop, and a couple of suitcases were laying on the ground, their contents spilling out.

In fact, the large object that had skidded was still there, on the ground, and two people were near it – someone on the ground, with their arms folded and a slightly unimpressed look on their face, whilst the other person was on top of the thing, seemingly messing with wires.

“He hasn’t practiced his landings yet! Cut him some slack!”

“My luggage is _everywhere_! You are very lucky that they don’t get dirty, because otherwise you would be in _very_ big trouble!”

“Oh, come on! He’s sorry! If he was awake, he’d express his sympathy and apologise to you, but he’s a little knocked out right now!”

Jason’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he recognised the voice. Sure, the owner’s hair was a little bit longer and shaggier, and he actually looked slightly taller and a bit more tanned than when he’d last seen him, but the voice was exactly the same.

Despite this, it was actually Percy who spoke first, directing his question to the person standing on the ground which Jason had now identified as a female.

“ _Calypso_?!”

* * *

“So you finally decided to return to the land of the living?”

Leo looked up at Nico with a raised an eyebrow, directing his gaze away from the plate of food that he was currently concentrating on. He knew that the question was rhetorical, yes, but he was ever so tempted to answer it snarkily.

Instead, he replied with a simple, “Yes.”

Jason looked more than pleased to have his best friend back (as shown by the fact that he’d nearly crushed the Latino elf to death when he’d hugged him out in the forest – after coming back to life with Asclepius’ potion, death by hug was _not_ how Leo wanted to go) and so he just patted the guy on the back, smiling. “It’s good to have you back, Leo,” he told his friend, grinning.

Leo returned the smile, before noticing how Percy was picking at his food and kept glancing nervously in Calypso’s direction. He turned to look at Calypso, who seemed to be completely ignoring the son of Poseidon and staring down at the food on her plate.

Nico looked caught between the two, looking between them in slight confusion. He could feel the tension, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before it–

“Could you please _stop staring at me_ ,” Calypso ground out, finally snapping her head up and glaring at Percy.

– _snapped_.

Percy sighed, putting his fork down. “Look, Calypso…” His voice died as she hardened her glare.

Nico cleared his throat and stood. “I’m gonna… go find Will or something…” he muttered, not expecting anyone to hear him and for once feeling glad that he could talk about Will without being interrogated… or concerned. Because not hearing the teases was very, _very_ weird.

Jason stood quickly, seeing this as a way out. “I’ll join you!” he said, attempting to sound cheery but ending up sounding desperate. The two quickly made their way out of the Mess Hall, heading towards the Apollo cabin or the infirmary… or anywhere they could escape what was bound to happen.

Leo had wanted to join the two ditchers, he really had, but the look that Calypso had given him as soon as he began to push his plate away had him glued to his seat, more out of fear than anything else.

Calypso stared at Percy expectantly for a few moments, before she spoke. “Well?” she demanded.

The son of Poseidon blinked a couple of times. “Well what?” Percy asked, regretting it as soon as he said it.

“You were about to say _something_.”

Percy’s eyes widened a fraction, before his face morphed into a frown. He didn’t really like the tone that Calypso was using with him and decided to jump to (what he would later claim to be) his second question. “When did you become so… _bitter_?” he asked, his face twisting a little in confusion and appearing as if the words tasted wrong in his mouth, which caused Leo to flinch.

Calypso’s eyes widened, mostly due to shock. She was… _bitter_? Who was _he_ to call her _bitter_?! She’d suffered for so long without so much as an ‘I’m sorry’! “Being stuck on an island for three years whilst everyone has forgotten about you does that to you,” she answered shortly.

“So, what, being stuck an extra couple of years drives a sweet person like you to _hurt_ someone?”

The female’s eyes narrowed at him. “I have been stuck on that island for millennia, Percy. You brought me hope – hope that I could _escape_ from that wretched place. But then my escape never came!”

“So it drives you to curse someone?!” he snapped, and Leo visibly shrunk down in his seat, not wanting to look at either of them. “You _cursed_ her, Calypso… you cursed _Annabeth_!”

Leo stared at his… well, was she his girlfriend? He didn’t know – they hadn’t really discussed it, so he wasn’t sure. “Is… is that true…?” he asked the immortal female carefully.

Calypso pushed herself away from the table, standing up. “How would you feel if you fell in love after one thousand years, the person you loved giving you hope and a chance at freedom, only to find that he has left you and forgotten about you?” she snapped, glaring at both males, before storming out of the Mess Hall, not really heading anywhere in particular.

As soon as Calypso had exited the hall, Leo turned to Percy, about to ask him for an explanation on what _exactly_ had just happened, but the son of Poseidon had already left the hall himself, heading down to the beach for some peace and quiet.

The son of Hephaestus sighed, turning back to his food and pouting. It had all gone cold, and now there was no one beside him to even enjoy this cold meal with him.

“Why am _I_ always the one left behind?!”

* * *

When Calypso was found, she was back at the crash site in the forest, hastily going around and picking up all of her clothes and trying to shove them into her suitcases again (and acting more like an irritated mortal and less like a powerful sorceress in the process). She didn’t notice even anyone approaching until it was too late, and when she heard a voice from behind her she span quickly towards it.

“You know, you seem pretty normal for an immortal being.”

The female blinked at the owner of the voice. Blonde, male, around… what, six feet tall? Five feet, eleven inches? With electric blue eyes that could only belong to one god.

“The son of Zeus,” she muttered, sounding kind of… unimpressed that he’d been the one who’d turned up, like she was hoping for or expecting someone else. And that was expressed further when she carried on speaking, an eyebrow raised. “Is there a reason for your presence?”

Jason raised an eyebrow in return at that, watching her pack everything away in frustration. Granted, when they’d greeted her and Leo earlier they hadn’t given them time to get ready before grabbing something to eat, but still. She couldn’t have been in _that_ much of a rush, could she? “Well, I actually didn’t mean to find you here. I was coming to check on Festus, really.”

Calypso looked towards the large metal dragon – Leo’s large, flying metal dragon, which was still lying on the ground and still seemed to be inactive – and couldn’t help but feel a slight twinge of jealousy. Even the _dragon_ had more demigods caring for it than she did. Did she even _belong_ in this world?

Jason noticed how she had hesitated slightly in her packing as he walked past, and stopped. “Are you alright?” he asked her, kneeling down beside her. When she didn’t answer, instead looking down and focusing on her task, he frowned. “Is this about what happened with you and Percy earlier?” She stiffened, and he sighed. He got it spot on. “What happened?”

She sighed, shoving one item of clothing particularly harshly into her suitcase. “He forgot about me,” she stated simply.

Jason raised an eyebrow at that. He _forgot_ about her? How could Percy _forget_ about someone? That was very… un- _Percy_ -like – so un-Percy-like that he had to clarify. “He… _forgot_ about you?”

Calypso rolled her eyes at his questioning, before looking over at him. “Yes, he forgot about me.” She turned back to her clothes, thinking he was done with his questioning. When he continued, she stiffened slightly.

“When?”

She turned to him, her eyes narrowed slightly. “He made them _promise_ to free me from the island, from my prison, to make sure that I was not confined there forever. He gave me hope that I would get to explore the mortal world. But I was never freed. They forgot about me, _all of them_ , and they never let me go.”

Jason frowned slightly as he thought about what she meant. They… they, _they_ , **_they_** … “You mean the gods?” he asked slowly, as if he was afraid of angering her.

“Of _course_ , the gods.” She went back to packing everything away, stuffing things into bags angrily and not bothering to fold them. “Who else? Who _else_ would forget about me, when they have the power to free me? They did not even _tell_ me what was going on in the mortal world – they simply forgot about me!”

He paused for a few moments, thinking it through. The gods forgot to free her, and now she was mad at them, yes… but… where did _Percy_ come into this? As far as he could tell, he’d done his job. “Wait, so if the gods forgot… why do you blame Percy?”

“Because _he_ forgot as well.” She stopped packing again and scowled. “I was stuck on that island for months after the war, not being told what was going on, and he did not make sure I was freed – that I was released. He just returned to his regular demigod life with his little demigod love so that he could live happily ever after following the war.”

“You _do_ know that Percy only had a couple of months of freedom before he was thrown straight back into the deep end, right?”

The question startled her a little. She looked confused for a few moments, looking over at him and registering what he said, before a frown appeared on her features. “And by that, you mean?”

“Just months after the Titan war ended, Percy and I were switched, memories wiped, and we were sent to each others’ camps – I came straight to Camp Half-Blood, and Percy was put in some sort of sleep before he was sent to Camp Jupiter. Because of Hera. Even if he wanted to, Percy wouldn’t have been able to remember you. The only person he actually remembered was Annabeth, and that was only because he remembered her name. It was the only thing Hera let him keep.”

Calypso scowled at that. So that blasted _queen of the gods_ was the reason that she was stuck on that _gods forsaken_ island for longer than necessary?! And he remembered the name of that… that _stupid_ girlfriend of his… “And _this_ is supposed to make me feel better about being forgotten?” She gave a harsh laugh. “It has done the _complete_ opposite!”

“I’m not saying that it’s supposed to make you feel better – trust me, I wouldn’t feel better if someone told me that at all,” he answered, trying not to flinch at the laugh. “I’m just suggesting that you think about this from his perspective – from everything _he’s_ been through.” The blonde offered a small smile. “After all, we demigods go through a lot. Two wars over the course of about a year is a big thing to go through. Loads of big villains.”

Her scowl faded a little as what he said hit her. She hadn’t thought about that, about the fact that all this time, they’d been trying to deal with all of their demigodly problems to keep the world spinning, how Percy would have felt with so much responsibility resting on his shoulders. “It must have been… _difficult_. For him.”

“Yeah, well…” he shrugged a little, standing and stretching, “you’d know if you spoke to him about it.”

She frowned up at him in slight confusion. “I am sorry, but what?”

“Go and talk to him,” Jason explained to her, beginning to make his way over to Festus. “Maybe you can patch things up with him. Or, at least, attempt to.” He looked over his shoulder and smiled slightly at her. “After all, Percy isn’t the type to stop forgiving people because of a misunderstanding. And, from what I’ve heard about you from Leo, you seem nice enough to forgive someone for their mistakes.”

She paused, biting her lip and looking down at her luggage, before looking back up at Jason, a more determined look on her face this time. “Where is he?”

* * *

Percy was quiet as he stared out at the sea, thinking. Was Calypso right? Had this all been his fault – her staying on the island even after she’d been promised freedom, her turning bitter, cursing Annabeth? Had it really? Well, he _had_ ensured a promise was made. Maybe this _was_ all his fault… he _should_ have checked on Calypso, made sure that she had been set free. He should’ve made sure that she was safe, and away from that island. This _was_ his fault – he hadn’t been loyal enough. She was his friend, someone who had trusted him, and he hadn’t been loyal. He’d failed her.

“For Zeus’ sake!” he snapped, grabbing a nearby pebble and drawing his arm back, throwing it as far as he could, out into the sea. He heard the light thundering coming from above, but ignored it, instead scowling to himself as he picked up another pebble to throw.

“Angering the king of the gods is not the wisest thing to do.”

Percy didn’t even look up when he heard the familiar voice, nor did he shift his gaze as she moved to sit beside him. He couldn’t bring himself to do that. If he looked in her eyes… well, he assumed that all he would see was anger. Anger that he’d left her, anger that he’d betrayed her, anger that he’d forgotten about her. Anger that he hadn’t been a real friend.

The two of them sat in silence for a little while, before Percy decided to speak up. After all, he’d been the one to hurt her – he _had_ to be the one that attempted to patch up their friendship.

“You know, I understand how you feel.”

Calypso looked up at Percy from where she’d been focused on the sand by her feet, slightly confused. “Excuse me?”

“I understand,” Percy repeated, staring out at the ocean waves lapping against the shore. He looked and felt a lot calmer out there, near his father’s domain. It was one of the few places that the ADHD demigod really felt at peace, where he didn’t feel the need to constantly keep an eye on his environment. It was one of the few places he felt _safe_. “I understand how it feels to be… forgotten about. I mean, it’s never exactly _happened_ to me before, but I understand where you’re coming from.”

The sorceress blinked. He may have understood where she was coming from, but Calypso didn’t understand where _he_ was coming from. This was all very confusing, listening to him say this. Not too long ago, they had been on the verge of a fight, and now he was speaking as if it had never happened.

He turned his head to look at her. “I don’t blame you for cursing her.”

She froze.

Percy took her freezing as a bad reaction, and hastily began to elaborate, turning to her with wide green eyes and putting his hands up as if he was surrendering. “I-I mean, if it had happened to me, I would’ve done the same thing! If I was in your shoes! We probably don’t wear the same shoe size, but I mean… _metaphorically_! I mean, just being stuck on an island may not have done it to me, but if I was stuck for millennia, and was immortal, then… then yeah, yeah, I might do it.”

She was silent for a few moments, trying to understand what he was saying, before she spoke up. “Is that all you want to say to me?” she asked.

Percy bit his lip. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint the tone of her voice – was she sad? Angry? Hurt? All of the above? What if it was none of the above, and it was some completely new and foreign feeling that he hadn’t encountered in a girl before? “Uh… not exactly?”

Calypso sighed, before looking at him expectantly. She wasn’t sure she wanted to continue this conversation, but if he wanted to continue it, well, who was she to say no?

“I’m… I’m really, _really_ sorry for… for forgetting.” Percy’s gaze moved from her to the sea in the distance, before ending at the sand by his feet. “I mean, I couldn’t keep a promise. I made the gods promise to free you, and I didn’t even make sure that it was carried through – I just… assumed that it had. My fatal flaw is _loyalty_ and I forgot to be _loyal_.” He let out a short bark of laughter. “What a great demigod I am.”

“You most likely had a lot going on at the time.” Calypso didn’t know where that had come from, but it came out anyway. Suddenly, she was defending Percy Jackson and not… trying to hurt him. “What with the impending end of the world if you didn’t do your job.”

A small smile appeared on Percy’s face as he turned from the sand to Calypso. “To be fair, Hera _did_ wipe my memories clean… maybe she forgot to replace that one really important part.”

A smile appeared on Calypso’s face. “Oh, did she, now?”

“Yeah.” He scoffed, rolling his eyes a little. “Trust the _queen of the heavens_ to do something like that.”

There was a rumble of thunder overhead, deeper than the one from earlier, but Percy barely flinched, deciding to just ignore it. Hey, if Zeus struck him down, that god was going to have _two_ camps, his mother, _and_ a bunch of gods against him. Not a smart idea – especially when Sally was involved.

Calypso chuckled a little, although she sounded slightly nervous, and glanced up at the sky. Even if there weren’t any storm clouds approaching, the rumble of thunder had thrown her off a little. She didn’t exactly want to be destroyed as soon as she had reached the mortal world.

Percy smiled when he heard her laugh (even if it did sound a little bit… _off_ ), and turned his head to look at her.

“You do not get along with that goddess much, do you?” the sorceress asked as she brought her knees up, resting her chin on them as she looked over at him.

“She chased my girlfriend with _cows_ , then wiped my _memory_ and sent me to the other side of the states. I don’t think she’s ever given me a reason _to_ like her.”

“If I were in your shoes, I would do the exact same thing.”

Percy’s eyes widened as she pretty much repeated (or rephrased) what he’d said earlier, and he blushed faintly. He glanced out to sea as he absentmindedly picked up a pebble, throwing it back and forth between his hands. “Is that your way of saying you forgive me?”

As soon as he asked that, Calypso’s smile faded, and she huffed.

The smile on his face disappeared at almost the same time, only to be replaced by a cheeky grin. “It _is_ , isn’t it?” When she refused to respond, he poked her in the shoulder, still grinning. “Go on, admit it. You _forgive_ me. And I forgive you too.”

Calypso sighed, before smiling over at him. “Alright, if you insist; yes, I _forgive_ you, Percy Jackson.”

Percy smiled widely, leaning back so that he was laying in the sand with his arms crossed behind his head. “Well, that lifts a _huge_ weight off my shoulders.”

“Well, if it was going to do that, maybe I shouldn’t have forgiven you.”

“You know, you are a _lot_ sassier than I remember.”

Calypso chuckled a little. “Well, I suppose being with Leo does that to you.”

“I can imagine.”

“Hey, what are you doing with my girlfriend, Jackson?”

Percy and Calypso both looked over to see Leo, Jason, Nico and Will standing not too far from them, at the top of the beach. The four of them headed down and joined Percy and Calypso in sitting by the sea.

“We were having a conversation,” Percy answered Leo, not bothering to move from his position in the sand (even if he did look quite awkward lying there when everyone else was sitting up. “You know; those things where you talk to a person and they talk back?”

Leo rolled his eyes at Percy’s sarcasm, moving to slide up next to Calypso and wrapping an arm around her, pulling her into a small hug.. “Yeah, yeah.”

Jason grinned. “So, you’ve made up now?”

Calypso smiled and nodded, sending Percy a look. “Yes, we have.”

“Good. We didn’t want anyone getting annoyed or lonely over Christmas this year.”

Will hugged his knees into his chest as he stared out onto the horizon. “This hasn’t exactly been an eventful Christmas,” he pointed out, before smiling slightly at Nico. “How about we do something better next year?”

Nico was slightly startled by the look Will gave him, and was about to answer his question when Jason spoke up.

“That’d be great, Will!” The blonde turned to Percy, Calypso and Leo. “We could have a Christmas dinner at your place, or something?” he suggested to Percy, who gave him a slight scowl.

“Or we could just stick with camp and avoid all the monsters?” Leo suggested.

“And why does it have to be my place that you nominate?” Percy huffed, before getting an idea and grinning. “I nominate Jason’s cabin. No protests? Motion carried.”

Jason frowned. “Hey, wait–” he started, only to be cut off.

“Christmas dinner in the Zeus cabin?” Nico asked, settling more comfortably next to Will with a smirk on his face. “Sounds like a great idea.”

“I’m all up for it,” Will agreed, smiling.

“Count us in!” Leo said, grinning at Calypso, who merely gave Jason a sympathetic smile as if to say “ _you brought this on yourself_ ”.

Jason looked between the others, a look of despair growing on his face, before he groaned loudly. “Fine! Fine… Christmas dinner at mine next year.”

The others laughed at him, before beginning to chatter away about random things.

Maybe having Leo back was a nice Christmas present after all.


End file.
